Book The Revolutionary philosophy of Marxism

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

This is not an article but a curated anthology of foundational Marxist philosophical texts, framed by an editorial introduction that asserts the enduring necessity of dialectical materialism for revolutionary politics. The central thesis is that Marxism is not merely a set of economic or historical propositions but a complete philosophical system — dialectical materialism — which must be consciously mastered if the working class is to navigate the strategic challenges of the class struggle. The claim is that at every decisive turning point, revolutionaries must "go back to basics" because theory functions as the "synthesized experience, historical memory, and guide to action of the working class." The volume positions philosophy not as an academic abstraction but as a weapon: without a correct method, the movement will succumb to empiricism, reformism, and ultimately betrayal.

Theoretical Grounding

The anthology draws on the classical Marxist tradition from Marx and Engels through Lenin, Trotsky, Luxemburg, and Plekhanov. Its theoretical spine is the Hegelian-Marxist conception of dialectics as "the logic of motion, development, and change" — a method that embraces contradiction rather than smoothing it over. The volume explicitly situates itself against two perennial opponents: mechanical materialism (which denies the active role of consciousness) and idealism (which severs thought from material reality). The inclusion of Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism and Trotsky's In Defense of Marxism signals a polemical tradition that defends the objectivity of the external world and the possibility of scientific knowledge against subjectivist and positivist currents. The anthology thus sits within the orthodox Marxist tradition that insists philosophy is not optional but foundational — a position often contested by those who would reduce Marxism to economics or sociology.

Conjunctural Relevance

The anthology was published in September 2018, on the bicentennial of Marx's birth — a moment when capitalism was still recovering from the 2008 crisis, populism and nationalism were resurgent, and the organised left remained fragmented and largely reformist. The editorial framing explicitly addresses a "new generation of revolutionary socialists" who must arm themselves theoretically against the pressures of the conjuncture. The volume's relevance lies in its implicit diagnosis: that the weakness of the contemporary left is not primarily organisational but theoretical. Without a firm grasp of dialectical materialism, movements oscillate between spontaneism and sectarianism, unable to grasp the totality of capitalist crisis or to chart a revolutionary strategy. The anthology is therefore a response to the theoretical disarmament that has characterised much of the post-Soviet left.

Where the Argument Continues

This volume functions as a gateway text. The argument it presents is developed across the broader IDOM corpus in several directions:

• Alan Woods' Introduction to the volume is itself a condensed version of arguments elaborated in his longer works, particularly The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective and Reason in Revolt: Marxist Philosophy and Modern Science (co-authored with Ted Grant).
• The section on dialectics points toward ongoing debates within the RCI about the relationship between dialectics and formal logic, and between dialectics and modern science — debates taken up in IDOM articles on quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology, and complexity theory.
• The polemical tradition represented by Trotsky's In Defense of Marxism continues in contemporary IDOM writings defending dialectical materialism against post-modernism, post-structuralism, and "Western Marxism."
• The volume's emphasis on the unity of theory and practice is developed in Against the Stream episodes that apply dialectical method to concrete conjunctural analyses — for example, the nature of the state, the dynamics of imperialism, and the strategy for party building.

Connections

This anthology should be read alongside:

• Alan Woods, The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective — a fuller treatment of the philosophical tradition from pre-Socratics to Hegel.
• Ted Grant and Alan Woods, Reason in Revolt — an application of dialectical materialism to the natural sciences.
• Georg Lukács, History and Class Consciousness — a contemporaneous but distinct attempt to restore the Hegelian dimension of Marxism, though one the RCI would critique for its idealist tendencies.
• Evald Ilyenkov, Dialectical Logic — a Soviet-era defence of dialectics as the logic of content, consonant with the tradition represented here.
• The IDOM article series "What is Dialectical Materialism?" and "Marxism and the State" — which extend the philosophical framework into political analysis.

Key Quotes

1. "Dialectical materialism is the logic of motion, development, and change. By embracing contradiction instead of trying to write it out of reality, dialectics allows Marxists to approach processes as they really are, not as we would like them to be."

2. "At every decisive turning point in history, scientific socialists must go back to basics. Marxist theory represents the synthesized experience, historical memory, and guide to action of the working class."

3. "This new selection of writing on Marxist philosophy aims to arm the new generation of revolutionary socialists with these essential ideas."

4. "Anyone who wishes to have a fully rounded understanding of his method must strive to master dialectical materialism, which itself resulted from an assiduous study and critique of Hegel."

5. "While he is perhaps best known for his writings on economics and history, anyone who wishes to have a fully rounded understanding of his method must strive to master dialectical materialism."

6. "In this way we can understand and explain the essential class interests at stake in our fight against capitalist exploitation and oppression."